Male Gender Role Conflict, Sexual Harassment Tolerance, and the Efficacy of a Psychoeducative Training Program

This study tested the relationship of gender role conflict, harassment tolerance, and the effectiveness of a harassment training program. Men (n = 98) were randomly assigned to either a training or no-training condition and were shown a video depicting harassment between a professor and a student. As anticipated, men with higher levels of gender role conflict were more tolerant of harassment. The training intervention was partially effective, with a positive impact on the identification of harassment but no significant impact on harassment tolerance. Men scoring lower on the Success, Power, and Competition subscale of the Gender Role Conflict Scale (J. M. O'Neil, B. F. Helms, R. K. Gable, L. David, & L. S. Wrightsman, 1986) evidenced a greater reduction of harassment tolerance compared with those with higher scores on the scale.